If it’s John Marrs, it’s an auto-read for me! This one did not disappoint!

Contestants participate in a Reality TV show called “The Family Experiment” to experience having a child from baby to age 18 in just nine months. This entire experience takes place in the Metaverse and contestants experience challenges with their virtual child.

But who are the contestants in the Real World and what have they been up to? As we expect from John Marrs, there are secrets and twists that will drop your jaw.

Thank you to NetGalley, John Marrs, and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC!

In the UK, cities are overcrowded and people can no longer afford to start a family, causing a crisis among some. Luckily, a company is soon releasing an alternative. For a monthly subscription, you can create your own child in a virtual world and raise them as your own with the help of a VR headset. The company releasing this, tries to gain traction by creating a reality show where ten couples do a “fast track” course to raise their child while it’s being live streamed. At the end.. the winners get to choose to keep their virtual child or take the money and try to start a “real” family. What could go wrong?

If you’ve read John Marrs.. you know there’s plenty that can go wrong… and does. I am just simply convinced John Marrs doesn’t write a bad book, he’s not capable. In the same universe as The One, The Passengers and The Marriage Act, this book is both thought provoking and equally pulse pounding need to turn the page and find out what happens next. Life at 9 months pregnant with a toddler leaves me too tired to read sometimes but I somehow always found the energy to read this everyday. I just needed to know what happened and was so intrigued by all the characters and story lines. Are you going to love every character? No. He doesn’t write characters you love, he writes characters you love to hate. Highly recommend checking this one out when it releases in July! 5/5⭐️ from this avid John Marrs reader.

Thanks NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I love Marrs’ novels and this one was no exception. It was great to see the overlap and read the references from some of his other books. There were so many twists in this book, right until the last page. The AI references make you wonder what could be possible even in our world. Things dragged a bit right at the very end, but with all the twists, this was still a great 4 ⭐️ read. Definitely recommend!

The Family Experiment follows 11 contestants (5 couples & 1 single dad) who compete in the Metaverse with fully interactive children (Metababies). Only one can win & will they choose to keep their Metababy or take the money to start a real life family?

All I can say is wow. Pure genius. What I would give to live in John Marrs brain for a day!

The amount of characters was a little hard to keep up with at first, but could not put it down!!

Marrs is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats with his latest grounded Sci-Fi/Thriller, The Family Experiment, which feels like an episode of Black Mirror, in book form. Told in brief chapters alternating between the participants of the titular reality show, the pacing is excellent, and Marrs proves he's got chops not only with concept and plot, but also with creating memorable characters. At first, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to keep the story lines straight because there are so many alternating POV's, but the characters are so distinct that it's easy to keep track. I can't say I loved the direction in which it ultimately went, but despite being outside of my area of interest, it still managed to keep my attention because the author never lets the pacing suffer in favor of promoting his agenda. There are allusions to The One and The Marriage Plot (both of which I'm convinced I've read, despite my not having marked them as such on here), but nothing that would prevent you from understanding what is going on in the book. I would definitely recommend this book to fans of Blake Crouch, in particular, as I think this is actually a more readable version of the kinds of stories he tells.

This book exceeded my expectations! To be fair, at the beginning I wasn't too sure I would like this book, but as I continued to read I was floored. I loved the different POVs through all the characters and their trials. It made the book come together. It was a touch of real world reality and what's to come with a twist! Very good book with such a good ending! Well done! Highly recommend!

With an economic crisis around the world, people are finding themselves unable to afford starting and raising a family. One company has come up with a solution so people can have a family without all the expense or adding to the already booming population. Metababies! For a monthly subscription fee, you can design and raise your virtual child in the Metaverse with VR and haptic suit technology. Prior to the upcoming launch of Metababies, the company has cast a reality tv show where lucky couples compete to raise their virtual children and the winner will be allowed to choose to either keep their virtual child or be given the money to start a family in the real world. But what lengths will these couples go to to win and what has this company done to produce this new technology?

Thank you John Marrs for once again making me weary of new technological advances such as AI and VR and hating reality tv again! Just kidding!

This story is set in the same, not so distant future as previous books-The One, The Passengers, The Minders and The Marriage Act. The creepy part is-some of these things really aren’t that far off from our reality today. Told from the POVs of the tv contestants and occasionally jumping back in time, you get a good look at all the families’ secrets they’re desperately trying to keep up it of the public eye. This was a fun, fast paced book, with a lot going on but easy to follow. I will never NOT recommend John Marrs to anyone who asks, and this book was a great follow up to the other speculative thrillers!!! Go read them all!!

He’s done it again! I have loved all of his books and this one is another!! Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this copy. This is an excellent book!

John Marrs' 'The Family Experiment' is a journey into the depths of ethical dilemmas and the complexities of human nature and morality. There is a captivating narrative and intricate plot. Marrs successfully weaves together suspense and emotion, keeping you on the edge of your seat until the very end. With compelling characters and a thought-provoking plot, this is a must-read for anyone who enjoys gripping psychological thrillers.

Thank you NetGalley and HTP books for an eARC of the family experiment by John Marrs in exchange for an honest review. Wow! I have to say that this is my favorite Marrs book to date, which is quite an accomplishment because I really love his work.

Set in the same future universe as The Passengers, The One & The Marriage Act, we get an inside look as to how AI could be used to help households, create virtual families that feel real. I don’t want to give anything away, definitely recommend going into this book blind. However, as with any of his work, you can expect so many twist and turns that you feel like you’re on a roller coaster ride. There are several points of view in this book, which at first was confusing for me, but I quickly caught onto each storyline, and felt myself invested in each and everyone. Just when you thought the story was over at the end, everything is tied together, so perfectly in a way that Makes you feel really good about the ending which doesn’t always happen in a book like this. His books always get you thinking about the future not only scientifically with how quickly the world is progressing, but morally in so many areas (which I really enjoy).


Chefs kiss Marrs, I’ll have to listen to this one on audio once it pubs! I’m not sure how he’s going to top this one, but I’m sure he will because he continues to do it!

As always Marrs does not disappoint. I enjoyed the references to past books though this is a standalone. Book will grab your attention and you will not want to put down. Marrs has a way of thinking that really makes you wonder what the future could be.

📖 ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️4 AI Generated Amazing Stars !

WOWZA 🤯

“Why leave it to chance or genetics when you can have the perfect baby you’ve always dreamed of ?”

The Family Experiment is a fast paced twisted dark thriller that made me feel like I was tuning into my favorite episode of Big brother 👨!! It definitely has an atmospheric feel while reading, almost as if you were the viewer of the show ! 👏

Read this if you like :
🤖 Reality TV
📺 Secrets
👶 Multiple POV
🧬 AI Technology
💰 Dark Suspenseful Reads
📖 Crazy Twist Endings
🔬 Short Chapters

Without giving to much away The Family Experiment is a book that gets you thinking about todays technology specifically targeting AI virtual babies !

11 contestants enter The Family Experiment to participate in a 9 month challenge to raise an AI generated baby that will allow viewers world wide to watch live and give red and black hearts based on their actions to raising the virtual child . The ultimate goal leaving one winner a big Jack pot 💰 and the option to terminate the now 18 year old virtual child or continue to keep interacting .

I found myself so fascinated and creeped out at the same time because with all this real AI technology that is happening around us today and not knowing enough about , makes you wonder 💭…how close to are we to really living in a world that is not reality anymore?

For some of the contestants the experiment they will grow fond of this experiment and for others a lot of dark secrets are about to be exposed, the question is how far will you go to hide the them?

I wouldn’t be surprised if this got picked up for a movie and think this would also make great book club discussion book!

‼️ Some slight Trigger warnings with child loss & infertility struggles **

Thank you so much NetGalley , Harlequin Trade Publishing and John Marrs for this brilliant ARC Copy , you just gained a new fan !!

Respectfully Another Read by Angie

No Spoilers:
John Marrs always knows how to capture the readers attention and keep them craving more. I enjoyed this book so much and found it hard to put down. I loved how curious it made me to know what was really going on. I will continue to read books he releases.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me this e-ARC.

I will admit that this was my first time reading something by John Marrs and it did NOT disappoint! This dark story is set in the future where virtual reality is common tech amongst the population and the UK has been hit with an economic crisis. The story centers around a reality TV show that is being used as marketing tool for the roll out of virtual children. Each family participating has a backstory that is brought out overtime and as expected the VR world is not without its own ethical problems.

This story kept me on my toes and I was really interested in how all the storylines were going to converge. I recommend picking this one up for an interesting story that leads you to feel a little 'icky' after. I will be sure to read other works by John Marrs in the near future.

John Marrs does it again! The next in his series set in a not too distant future delivers. With rich sci fi details, The Family Experiment explore what it means to be human and a parent as people compete to raise AI children in the Metaverse. Dark pasts are had by all, of course. Multiple POVs as well as chat comments and website news articles tell the story. The characters were interesting and easy to follow; I sometimes get lost when there’s too many points of view but Marrs did a good job making each storyline unique and characters defined.

I love the way the story came together. Well crafted! I’d recommend this book to anyone.

This is a definite 5 star read. Some likeable characters, some very unlikable. This story takes place as a reality show in an alternate MetaVerse. No spoilers here but I can promise its worth the read

Summary: The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities
and an economic crisis. And in the UK, breaking point has
arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to
start families let alone raise them.
But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an
alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a
virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse
and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company
behind Virtual Children has created a reality tv show. It will
follow ten couples as they raise a Virtual Child from birth to the
age of eighteen but in a condensed nine-month time period
The prize: the right to keep their virtual child or risk it all for the
chance of a real baby
Set in the same universe as John Marrs's bestselling novel The
One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and
twisted thriller about the ultimate 'tamagotchi - a virtual baby.

Review: WOWZA John Marrs has done it again! This was a riveting read and I'm still trying to process what happened. Let's start with one of the craziest conccepts with his speculative series. The fact that the book talks about the Metaverse and AI technology blows my mind that this could be our actual future where technology fully runs the world.

Marrs has his classic writing of following 5+ different POVs. In the book we follow the POVs of different contestants competing in the Family Experiment. I'm still so curious as to how it works and how they actually create genuine feelings for an AI avatar. I did find it a bit confusing to follow so many different POVs and having to look back as to when they first got introduced, but the more you read, the more you start remember each couple/person and what their story behind competing.

There were so many twists and turns!!! This book had me eating it up. I love the cliffhangers at the end of short chapters. It kept me at the edge of my seat.

I did find that I enjoyed the Marriage Act more the Family Experiment just because maybe I'm not at the stage of having kids myself yet? The Marriage Act seemed to be more relatable.

I highly recommend this book when it comes out on July 9th for the US! Definitely read his other books in his speculative series and start with The One first. Marrs sprinkles a lot of Easter eggs from the earlier books :)

First I would like to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC.

This was my first John Marrs novel and it didn’t disappoint. It was so thought provoking and I think one of the reasons it felt so creepy is that you can picture a world where this could happen. It also had some great twist and they kept coming in the last 20% or so of the novel.

I found it a little slow to really get sucked into the world with so many characters and so much going on but once I was in I was fulling invested.

I now canning wait to go back and read other John Matt’s novels in this same universe.

This was a very, very solid 4.25/5 stars for me and I would highly recommend it when it is released.

#netgalley #thefamilyexperiment #johnmarrs

The Family Experiment had an interesting take on building a family. There were several points of few in this book that were hard to follow at first but once you get into the book, it’s fairly easy to follow the story line. Every point of view is left at a cliff hanger making you want to continue reading to see what happens next.
The twists and turns near the conclusion were great. I like how there was overlap in some of the stories that we definitely didn’t see coming. It was a solid 4 star read for me.

Another amazing Black Mirror-esque read. Imagine a reality tv show where contestants raise a metachild for 9 months inside a VR set, while the voters vote who the favorites are. Each character has some good ole baggage and secrets that they don't want to come out. This is a wild ride with a ending that you wont expect.

Thanks to NetGalley for this pre release in exchange for my honest review.